Last week, news emerged that Dan Miller
had stepped in to replace Ferreira against “Toquinho” in Rio de
Janeiro on Aug. 27, though the reason for the switch was not
immediately clear. Ferreira’s manager, Josef Borges, informed
Sherdog.com Tuesday that the Brazilian submission specialist was
released by the UFC after refusing to sign a bout agreement to
fight Palhares.

“Unfortunately, Cacareco was released by the UFC when he refused to
sign the contract to fight against Toquinho,” explained Borges. “He
was called to fight at ‘UFC Rio’ in March, and when he found out
that the opponent was Palhares, he started to claim difficulties
with making weight. Ferreira then said it was better for him not to
sign the contract, and he didn’t decide what to do until,
eventually, the UFC got tired of waiting and released him via
letter.”

This was not the first time Ferreira refused to clash with his
countryman. Ferreira and Palhares were originally slated to lock
horns at March’s UFC Live 3, but Cacareco pulled out of that fight
in January, citing distress over the tragedies caused by flooding
in his home state of Rio de Janeiro.

Ferreira’s only fight under the UFC banner came at UFC 122 in
November, when he was knocked out by fellow veteran Vladimir
Matyushenko in the first round of their 205-pound contest.
Borges revealed that the Brazilian had since exhibited “lazy
performances” and missed numerous practices at Chute Boxe Academy,
who released him from the team in January.

“When I knew he was looking for a team, I called Rudimar [Fedrigo,
leader of Chute Boxe] and told him to hire Cacareco,” said Borges.
“However, [Cacareco] showed no interest in training, even when he
signed with the UFC after almost a year of trying to convince [UFC
matchmaker] Joe Silva to give him a shot. He knew I was close to
making the deal for him, and he still went on a TV show to blame
his unluckiness.

“The result of the fight shows everything. He was completely out of
shape and was easily defeated by Matyushenko. The UFC gave him
another shot, extended his contract, and the other issues happened
in sequence.”